REFUSAL AS SOCIAL SPEECH ACT: AN EVIDENCE OF SOCIAL VS NATURAL SCIENCE STUDENTS’
Abstract
Given the significance of specific speech acts, let alone refusal, which requires extra attention from the audience as well as being quite difficult to execute, this study examined the refusal speech act as performed by social and natural science learners. Participants were two groups of 5 esp intermediate-level social learners and 5 natural science learners of umm. Through a discourse completion test (dtcs), they were asked to respond to scenarios individually. To better understand the factors influencing the participants' choice-refusal strategies, a follow up semi-interview was conducted. Dct data was analyzed using thematic analysis, and the interview was analyzed and coded using the du bois model. The findings found that natural and social science students generally refused to use the indirect strategy, with excuses, reasoning, explanations, and regret being the most frequently used tactics. The second most popular option was the adjunct technique, followed by positive feelings, pause fillers, and empathy comments. The direct strategy was the least preferred. Participants considered age, power relationships, proximity, and other criteria when developing their techniques.
Keywords: Speech Acts, Refusal, Social Science, Natural Science
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abbas, J. H., & Berowa, A. M. (2022). Refusal Strategies across Genders: The Meranaw University Students in Focus. JEE (Journal of English Education), 8(1), 18-43.
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford University Press.
Bardovi-Harlig, K., & Hartford, B. (1993). Learning the rules of academic talk: a longitudinal study of pragmatic development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(3), 279-304. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263100012122
Barron, A. (2003). Acquisition in interlanguage pragmatics: Learning how to do things with words in a study abroad context. Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Philadelphia, United States: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.108
Beebe, L. M., Takahashi, T., & Uliss-Weltz, R. (1990). Pragmatic transfer in ESL refusals. Newbury House Publishers.
Bella, S. (2014). Developing the ability to refuse: A cross-sectional study of Greek FL refusals. Journal of Pragmatics, 61, 35-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.11.015
Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching (5th ed.). White Plains, Longman.
Chen, S., & Yang, M. (2007). Interlanguage Refusals and the Initiating Acts. 2, 1–17.
Dwiana, N. R., Basthomi, Y., Anugerahwati, M., & Syahri, I. (2021). “I’m afraid I can’t”: Initiating acts on refusal strategy realization. IJELTAL (Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics), 5(2), 297. https://doi.org/10.21093/ijeltal.v5i2.716
Eviliana, N. (2015). Pragmatic transfer in refusals realized by proficient EFL. Mabasan Journal Article, https://dx.doi.org/10.26499/mab.v9i1.155
Fitri, A., Muslem, A., & Marhaban, S. (2020). The investigation of refusal strategies used by university students of English department. English Education Journal, 11(4), 453-465.
Fraser, B. (1990). Perspectives on politeness. Journal of Pragmatics, 14(2), 219-236. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037821669090081N
Khammari, H. (2021). The realization of the speech act of disagreement by Tunisian nonnative and American native speakers of English. Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6(1). 60-92.
Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How languages are learned-Oxford handbooks for language teachers (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Miles, M., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Source of New Methods. Baverly Hills: SAGE Publication Inc.
Mohammad, A. (2022). “I know how to manage my time”: Refusal strategies by EFL nursing students. SAGE Open, 1-7. doi.org/10.1177/215824402210933
Morkus, N. (2009). The realization of the speech act of refusal in Egyptian Arabic by American learners of Arabic as a foreign language [Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida]. University of South Florida Scholar Commons. http:// scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewco ntent.cgi?article=3113&context=etd
Muis, T. A., Lestari, L. A., Munir, A. (2022). EFL young learners’ strategies in dealing with requests: Language and pragmatic transfer analysis. Diglossia: Jurnal Kajian Ilmiah Kebahasaan dan Kesusastraan, 13(2), 119-130.
Qadi, A. H., (2021). Use of refusal strategies among saudi EFL students: An investigative study. English Language Teaching, 4(7), 27-43. 10.5539/elt.v14n7p27
Rahayu, N. S. (2019). Refusal strategy performed by Indonesian EFL learners. Indonesian EFL Journal, 5(1), 67-76. 10.25134/ieflj.v5i1.1612
Rahman Hz, B. I., & Ramadhan, A. (2022). Does Educational Background Influence Students’ Public Speaking Skill? Reality Vs Students’ Perspective. Wacana: Jurnal Penelitian Bahasa, Sastra Dan Pengajaran, 20(1), 17–25. https://doi.org/10.33369/jwacana.v20i1.20549
Ren, W. (2013). The effect of study abroad on the development of the internal modification of refusals. Pragmatics, 23(4), 715-741. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.23.4.06ren
Rees-Miller, J. (2000). Power, severity, and context in disagreement. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 1087-1111. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00088-0
Rusdi, R. P., Purwanti, I. T., & Dahnilsyah, D. (2022). Refusal Strategies Used by EFL Learners of English Study Program in Riau, Indonesia. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 10(1), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v10i1.2581
Sahragard, R., & Javanmardi, F. (2011). English speech act realization of “Refusals” among Iranian EFL learners. Cross-Cultural Communication, 7(2), 181–198. https://doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020110702.021
Saud, W. I. (2019). Refusal strategies of saudi EFL undergraduate students. Arab World English Journal, Special Issue: The Dynamics of EFL in Saudi Arabia, 96-114. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/efl1.8
Shahi, B. M. V. (2022). Pragmatic competence of iranian EFL learners in the light of refusal speech act. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 13(1), 58-65. 10.17507/tpls.0908.24
Smith, C. J. (1998). Can adults "just say no?": How gender, status and social goals affect refusals: University of South Florida.
Umale, J. (2011). Pragmatic failure in refusal strategies: British versus Omani interlocutors. Arab World English Journal, 2(1), 18-46.
Utomo, D.W., Karuniawati, N.F., Fargianti, Y., Sidik, E.J. (2022). Gender-based differences in performing refusal strategies among indonesian intermediate EFL learners. Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 4(1), 61-68.
Wijayanti, M. A. (2016). I’m sorry, I’ve got something to do: A study of EFL learners’ refusal strategies. 4(1), 64–75. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.30813/jelc.v6i1.271
Wang, Q. (2019). A comparative study of gender differences in refusal strategies from english majors. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 9(8), 1040-1048. 10.17507/tpls.0908.24
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN: 2598-0653